Men's Soccer

ATTLEBORO, Mass. - All eight sponsored programs were represented on the 2009 New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Men's Soccer All-Conference Team, it was announced today by Commissioner Del Malloy. In addition to the All-NECC honors, four separate major individual award winners and the team sportsmanship award were also voted upon and selected this week.

The Lesley University Lynx senior defender Scott Wheeler, a business/sport management major, was named the 2009 NECC Men's Soccer Player of the Year. In conference play, Wheeler led a Lesley backfield that was tops in the NECC in goals against average. Anchored by Wheeler, the Lynx only gave up five goals in seven conference matches. He tallied one goal, one assist for three points in NECC action, while he has three goals and one assist for seven points thus far this year.

Fellow Lesley Lynx junior Zachary Almeida-Beers was named the 2009 NECC Men's Soccer Goalie of the Year. Almeida-Beers, a history and global studies major, tallied 26 saves with a 0.81 goals against average placing second in shut-outs, save percentage and goals against.  Overall he has played 1491:48 minutes while notching 84 saves, a 1.03 GAA and an .832 save percentage in all 16 matches.

Southern Vermont freshman Adrian Alexis nabbed the 2009 NECC Men's Soccer Rookie of the Year for his first season of collegiate play. Gleason tallied four goals and one assist for nine points in NECC play ranking second in goals scored and points per game at 2.25. Overall, Alexis has 13 goals and three assists for 29 points this season.

Wheeler and Almeida-Beers were joined by their head coach Paul Vasconcelos as the 2009 NECC Men's Soccer Coach of the Year.  Vasconcelos led the Lynx to a 14-3-2 overall record and 5-1-1 in conference play. They earned the #2 seed in the NECC tournament.

The Wildcats of Wheelock, led by head coach Sercan Fenerci, were honored as the 2009 NECC Team Sportsmanship Award recipients. In their first season of play, the Wildcats went 0-12 and 0-7 in conference.

Voting for the All-NECC team and each of the major awards was conducted among all NECC men's soccer coaches.

Joining Wheeler, Almeida-Beers and Alexis on the All-NECC First Team in the forward positions were Southern Vermont sophomore Nick Haggerty, Daniel Webster sophomore Spencer Bernard, Mitchell sophomore James Gleason and Lesley freshman Darius Koep; at the midfielder spot were Lesley freshman Ari Sinanis, Elms junior Courtney Johnson and Lesley junior Tyler Reeves; at the defender positions were Mitchell freshman Matt Grandy and Daniel Webster junior Samson Kiberu.

Second team honors went out to thirteen student-athletes. At the forward position were Daniel Webster sophomore Alex Jackson, Elms freshman Tavish Leland, Newbury sophomore Andi Maska and Becker senior Snjezan Telebak; at the midfielder positions were Daniel Webster senior Andre Garcia, Newbury's freshman and senior Shaundize Moosavizadeh and Hayato Iwahori. At the defender spots were five players including; Daniel Webster junior Ryan Kunker, Newbury senior Nick Sehovich, Lesley junior Stephen Siragusa, Elms senior Chris Silva, and Mitchell junior John Burkhart; along with Southern Vermont junior goalkeeper Aaron Eschler.

Five players received honorable mention including Southern Vermont's senior midfielder Tony Martinez and a quartet of sophomore goalkeepers Daniel Webster's Joe Keene, Newbury's Will McNally, Wheelock's Victor Kashouh, and Mitchell's Kevin Woodford.

2009 NECC MENS SOCCER PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Scott Wheeler, Lesley, SR (East Hampton, Conn.)

2009 NECC MENS SOCCER GOALIE OF THE YEAR: Zachary Almeida-Beers, Lesley, JR (Rehoboth, Mass.)

2009 NECC MENS SOCCER ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Adrien Alexis, Southern Vermont, FR (Maplewood, N.J.)

2009 NECC MEN'S SOCCER COACH OF THE YEAR: Paul Vasconcelos, Lesley

2009 NECC MENS SOCCER TEAM SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD: Wheelock College

2009 ALL-NECC MENS SOCCER FIRST TEAM

Forwards

Adrian Alexis, Southern Vermont, Freshman

Nick Haggerty, Southern Vermont, Sophomore

Spencer Bernard, Daniel Webster, Sophomore

James Gleason, Mitchell, Sophomore

Darius Koep, Lesley, Freshman

Midfielders

Ari Sinanis, Lesley, Freshman

Courtney Johnson, Elms, Junior

Tyler Reeves, Lesley, Junior

Defenders

Scott Wheeler, Lesley, Senior

Matt Grandy, Mitchell, Freshman

Samson Kiberu, Daniel Webster, Junior

Goalkeeper

Zachary Almeida-Beers, Lesley, Junior

2009 ALL-NECC MENS SOCCER SECOND TEAM

Forwards

Alex Jackson, Daniel Webster, Sophomore

Tavish Leland, Elms, Freshman

Andi Maska, Newbury, Sophomore

Snjezan Telebak, Becker, Senior

Midfielders

Andre Garcia, Daniel Webster, Senior

Shaundize Moosavizadeh, Newbury, Freshman

Hayato Iwahori, Newbury, Senior

Defenders

Ryan Kunker, Daniel Webster, Junior

Nick Sehovich, Newbury, Senior

Stephen Siragusa, Lesley, Junior

Chris Silva, Elms, Junior

John Burkhart, Mitchell, Junior

Goalkeepers

Aaron Eschler, Southern Vermont, Junior

2009 ALL-NECC MENS SOCCER HONORABLE MENTION

Midfielder

Tony Martinez, Southern Vermont, Senior

Goalkeepers

Kevin Woodford, Mitchell, Sophomore

Joe Keene, Daniel Webster, Sophomore

Will McNally, Newbury, Sophomore

Victor Kashouh, Wheelock, Sophomore